The whole pharmaceutical world is built upon a foundation of intellectual property (IP) and personally identifiable information. Without the masses of data collected from clinical trials, groundbreaking drug formulas, and research, it is easy to see how some of the top global pharma organisations would no longer be at the top of the game, highlighting just how valuable all this information is.
In 2018, the pharma industry was estimated at an astonishing $1.11 trillion, with this set to rise to $1.43 trillion by 2020. While regulatory compliance is no new thing for pharma companies, the introduction of the EU GDPR back in May 2018 means that any organisation found to be in breach of EU citizens’ data could be fined up to €20 million, or 4% of their global turnover. For a pharma company with a turnover of $30 billion, this could be a fine of $1.2 billion, which would blow the current GDPR record fine (€50 million for Google) out of the water.
As with anything, the monetary loss of a data breach is just the tip of the iceberg. Following a fine for a breach of regulatory compliance is a hugely damaged reputation and a very valuable potential loss of revenue-making IP and trade secrets.
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